Parents of young-ish kids: Do you fix different foods for yo

CakeFit21

Definitely not. What better way to encourage healthy eating than by feeding the whole family healthy food.

My daughter eats anything I put in front of her - probably because she knows that if she were "picky" then she'd be "hungry".

Exactly. And I have absolutely no problem with my son eating nothing for dinner if that's what he chooses. He's almost four and knows that if he doesn't eat with us he doesn't eat. Because of this his favorite foods are homemade Thai and Indian curries. (the spicy ones)

tomomatic

I have two kids: 6 and 3 years old. My oldest is uber-skinny and kind of thin so I try to give her foods that I know she'll eat. I sometimes worry about if she's eaten enough. I try to add more calories into her day by giving her a cheese-stick for a snack or whole milk instead of 2%. I know for a fact that she only eats about 1/3 of her school lunch (she spends most of her lunch time standing in line) so we're going to start packing her lunches this year.

There are some healthy foods that we all like to make together. This past weekend, we made wontons at home and I packed in plenty of veggies into the filling. Also, we dice up veggies and add it to rice porrige. And the kids like fried rice. For some reason, my oldest LOVES broccoli so we always try to have some of that. I mix in peas, carrots, and string beans into their mac and cheese. We really try to put veggies into everything.

My 3 year old is a different story. She eats plenty but at some point during the meal, she'll become aware that I've mixed veggies into her food, even if it's been there the whole time. She'll start taking it out of her mouth (especially if it's squash or eggplant) and that's when I tell her that it's good for her and she's gonna forfeit her candy incentives -- which is something like 2 M&M's. I can make a fun size bag last a couple weeks.

Oh yeah...the kids also enjoy fresh fruit smoothies with no sugar added... with some veggies mixed.

TheRoadDog

I love to cook. I will make anything for anyone that asks. Don't mind at all.

Wife already has made special requests for a Wine Tasting on 9/08, 9/09 and a BBQ on 9/10.

My daughter has made a request for Dinner on 9/17.

Afriend of mine blows into town on Thursday and requested a special menu for both our families.

On a daily basis I usually am only cooking for my wife and I.

ArlVAMom

I have a 6 year old who is very picky to the point of having pretty severe anxiety over new foods, and a 2.5 year old who is just plain stubborn. I have always been pretty obsessed with eating healthy and loved vegetables so I think this is my challenge in life, to have picky kids!

For breakfast, we all eat different stuff. They eat cereal (cheerios and/or kix), waffles, yogurt, and/or fruit. I got tired of feeding them crappy Eggo waffles so I started making my own that are much healthier made with oatmeal, milk, and almond butter. they gobble those up. No sugar! Except for the teeny bit of maple syrup. My husband eats Kashi cereal and I eat eggs, nuts, veggies, or a smoothie if I eat breakfast at home at all. Sometimes I am not hungry and wait till I get to work.

For lunch, they are either at home with the babysitter or at school. I make carrot-pumpkin muffins and homemade granola bars to supplement their usual mix of PB&J, goldfish crackers, applesauce (no sugar added), chicken nuggets, taquitos, quesadillas (made with black beans), and pasta with tomato sauce and chicken meatballs (I like the garden veggie or whatever it is brand of pasta that claims to have a serving of veggies. I need to get better about making my own sauce so I can hide more veggies in it as well.)

For snacks, I don't keep "junk" in the house - no chips, cookies (other than animal crackers), ice cream, candy, etc. I am helpless around that stuff! They have crackers, applesauce, fruit, granola bars (homemade) or homemade muffins. I do keep dark chocolate in the house for ME and use that to bribe them sometimes or as a special treat.

For dinner, they eat what we eat, but usually modified. The 6 year old will fortunately eat most kinds of plain cooked/grilled meat like chicken, fish, steak, pork chops. They get whatever veggies I am making on their plates, but they almost never eat it. Sigh. I usually make a starch but then don't eat it myself because I do better when I limit carbs. Rice, couscous, quinoa, or pasta all go well with them. The 2.5 year old gets what we get, usually cut into little pieces. Sometimes she eats it all, sometimes she eats nothing, and then I assume she isn't hungry. I try really hard to not let her fill up on starches and applesauce. Usually once a week I make a big pasta dinner and just serve my portion over veggies. They looooove spaghetti and meatballs! Oh and they both love sweet potato fries so I usually make a big batch of those or buy a big bag at Costco and make that to have on hand as a side dish for them. About once a week I make a big salad for me and my hubby and they get something "easy" and kid focused like english muffin pizzas or chicken nuggets.

They do not like "casserole" type meals, which is a bummer because I love making those. I'm slowly working on making more "saucy" or mixed foods and getting the kids to at least tolerate it on their plate.

For drinks, we generally don't keep juice in the house as the 6 year old doesn't like it and really they don't need it. They drink water, mostly. The 6 year old doesn't like milk much either, but she is in the 95%ile for height so I don't worry about that too much.

When we go out of course it is a free for all. They both love chocolate milkshakes, chips at Mexican restaurants, burgers and french fries. That's when I figure let them be kids.

maidentl

I don't usually eat what they eat but only because I am the only vegetarian in the family. I do occasionally make something meatless that everyone enjoys.

NeuroticVirgo

I usually have a different breakfast and lunch, but that's just because everyone is eating at different times places (for instance on the weekends we'll usually all eat the same thing for all 3 meals).

This is one of my favs to make. I'm still forever tweaking it (for a better meat loaf recipe), but I've worked it down to about 130 cal per cupcake (including potato frosting). But my daughter and her friends really like it. And a little bit of food coloring goes a long way for making it fun.

ladyhawk00

Definitely not. What better way to encourage healthy eating than by feeding the whole family healthy food.

My daughter eats anything I put in front of her - probably because she knows that if she were "picky" then she'd be "hungry".

This. My 7 yo son eats what I eat with very few exceptions. He knows it is a rule that he TRY everything. If he truly doesn't like something, he doesn't have to eat it. But I better be convinced. So far the only things he reeeeeally doesn't like are mushrooms and olives (understandable as they're pretty strong flavors.)

I don't believe in making "kid foods" per se - aside from avoiding things that may upset young stomachs like spicy foods when they're very little. It just teaches them bad habits, in general, and encourages pickiness; and most of all, it doesn't develop their palates for different flavors.

ChantalGG

My 6 year old eats the same foods as i do, if he wants salt, butter, or sauce he can eat add it. He does always get a better dessert than i do though.

healthyjen342

Sometimes, yes...I have a 5 year old and a 1 year old and I can't feed both of them tuna fish every day or rice or something...if there is something I think they will waste or not eat, I will fix them something different. Usually we always eat the same things for breakfast, so I dont have to fix anything different there.

TS65

My son is 7. He eats a different breakfast and lunch than I do (breakfast is waffles, toast or cereal), lunch is packed or hot from school). Dinner really depends on what I'm making. Most nights he'll eat what I make, but if it's too spicy or something I know he won't like, I'll toss in a pizza (which sometimes my hubby chooses over what I've cooked. :laugh: ) I let him choose his own desert.

On a good note, he's started choosing better - I try to offer him healthier snacks - string cheese, yogurt, carrots with ranch dressing (he calls it "ranching"), cashews (he's even starting to measure the nuts... "mommy, can I have a pound of nuts?" Of course he means ounce, but I'll take it for now! )

CALake

We try to eat meals together, but sometimes my recipes take a lot longer to prepare and the kids are too hungry to wait! On those nights they get typical "kid" meals of mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, or grilled cheese sandwiches, but they always have loads of fruits and veggies to eat with their meals too.

On the subject of picky eaters... I won't force my kids to eat something they're not hungry for, but I also won't reward a poor dinner with dessert. I have no problem with giving them a cheese stick or apple near bedtime when they ate a poor meal- I'm not going to punish a kid for being a kid